The Data-Over-Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) was established by cable television network operators to facilitate transporting data traffic, primarily Internet traffic, over existing community antenna television (CATV) networks. In addition to transporting data traffic, as well as television content signals over a CATV network, multiple services operators (MSO) also use their CATV network infrastructure for carrying voice, video on demand (VoD) and video conferencing traffic signals, among other types.
The number of services provided through the MSO over a hybrid fiber-cable (HFC) network can lead to overloading of the network. Weighted random early discard (WRED) mechanisms have traditionally been used to identify an overloading situation and to provide a determination of which packets should be dropped in a multiple priority queuing type system. Typically, WRED mechanisms identify overloading conditions based upon memory usage nearing a threshold. Once the threshold has been exceeded, the WRED mechanism makes a discard decision for incoming packets at least in part based upon the memory usage.